Page 13 - Golf World (February 2020)

“He will be a force in European golf for many years to come.”
Thomas Bjorn was impressed by fellow Dane Rasmus Hojgaard after watching the 18-year-
old win the Mauritius Open in just his fifth European Tour start, making him the third-
youngest winner of all-time.

HARD YARDS Is your course too long for you?

Most golfers are making the game less enjoyable by playing the wrong yardage.

What if we told you that you could shave half-an-hour off the time it takes to play a round of golf while simultaneously scoring better?
Sounds too good to be true? Well, it’s not, it won’t cost you anything, and you can implement it the next time you play.
We’re talking about ensuring that the course you play, and particularly the set of tees you choose, gives you the right challenge.
“Golfers are masochists,” says Jack Nicklaus. “They want a challenge but they end up playing the wrong tees. I don’t hit it as far as I used
to, which is why I don’t tee off from the back anymore. Teeing it forward is a great way to play faster, score better, and have more fun.”

GOLFERS WHO TRIED TEEING IT FORWARD

56% 56% 83% 85% 93%

said it made the said it would make found they hit shorter said they had said they will tee it
round quicker them play more often clubs into greens more fun forward again

THE DRIVER METHOD THE 5-IRON METHOD THE COMBO METHOD

Take the distance of your average Take your average 5-iron Take your average 7-iron distance
drive (please note: average does distance (the same caveats apply) and multiply by 18. Then take your
not mean best-ever, downwind, and multiply by 36. average driver distance and
downhill, on a rock hard fairway…) multiply by 14. Add the two totals
and multiply by 24. together.

Driver 18-hole 5-iron 18-hole 7-iron
(yards) yardage (yards) yardage (yards)

275 6,600 200 7,200 180 x 18 290 x 14 7,300
250 6,000 185 6,660 170 x 18 270 x 14 6,840
225 5,400 170 6,120 160 x 18 250 x 14 6,380
200 4,800 155 5,580 150 x 18 230 x 14 5,920
175 4,200 140 5,040 140 x 18 210 x 14 5,460

RIP, PLASTIC TEE

Royal North Devon is the oldest club in England, but is
not stuck in its ways, recently becoming the first to ban
the use of plastic tees. “Birds pick up plastic tees that
are often garishly coloured and drop them all over the NUMBEROFTOP-10
place, including on the beach and in the sea,” says RND
committee member Richard Hughes. “We have found FINISHESINMAJORS
tees in birds’ nests before. From the start of the new
decade, we would like all golfers to only use wooden DURING THE LAST DECADE
tees and the pro shop will only supply wooden tees.”
Wooden tees are usually white or natural wood colour, FOR RORY MCILROY.
making them less attractive to wildlife. “Look after our
environment and hopefully it will be there for many Dustin Johnson is second with 16.
years to come,” says Hughes.

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 13